From October 10, 2002 Q Magazine
Watery Dublin sunlight leaks through the windows of the dining-cum-operations room of U2's Hanover Quay studio. Bono leans over to speak: "This is the one that I sang at my old man's funeral." Behind him, guitarist Edge presses play on a work-in-progress mix of "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," one of the raft of new tunes that U2 have been working up in the months since their Elevation tour came to a close at the end of 2001.
There's a second or two where the silence hangs heavy in the air. Drummer Larry Mullen, busy eating, raises his eyes up from his knife and fork -- as if to lighten the emotional weight of his bandmate's last statement -- and bluntly adds, "This sound system's crap, by the way."
Then a skyscraping rocker, replete with "drunk bass" and glammy fringes, explodes. The lavender-shaded Bono begins belting out his vocal directly into Q's right ear. He pauses only to elaborate on certain lyrical couplets ("See, my dad, he was a big opera fan...that's what I'm getting at there"), before reaching an impassioned crescendo with the line, "You're the reason I sing..."
It's affecting stuff. And there's more to come. Edge buries his navy blue skull-capped head into a bulging slip-case of CD-Rs and locates his favourite mix of "Original of the Species," a slinky pop song built around a primitive riff, with shades of Bowie's "Aladdin Sane." Bono is on his feet in an instant and monkey-stepping to the loping groove, singing away and proudly declaring, "This one's about Edge's daughter."
Then, when the guitarist cues up another new track called "All Because of You," things get physical. It's the rawest song U2 have ever recorded: the quartet recast as an abrasive garage band.
"It's The Who!" Bono howls, windmilling Pete Townshend-like and landing light(ish) blows on Q's arm to emphasise musical accents. It's clear that, re-energised by the creative and commercial rebirth of 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, progress on the band's latest studio album (expected arrival: summer 2003) is cracking along apace.
except the part about the fuckin release date.
Watery Dublin sunlight leaks through the windows of the dining-cum-operations room of U2's Hanover Quay studio. Bono leans over to speak: "This is the one that I sang at my old man's funeral." Behind him, guitarist Edge presses play on a work-in-progress mix of "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," one of the raft of new tunes that U2 have been working up in the months since their Elevation tour came to a close at the end of 2001.
There's a second or two where the silence hangs heavy in the air. Drummer Larry Mullen, busy eating, raises his eyes up from his knife and fork -- as if to lighten the emotional weight of his bandmate's last statement -- and bluntly adds, "This sound system's crap, by the way."
Then a skyscraping rocker, replete with "drunk bass" and glammy fringes, explodes. The lavender-shaded Bono begins belting out his vocal directly into Q's right ear. He pauses only to elaborate on certain lyrical couplets ("See, my dad, he was a big opera fan...that's what I'm getting at there"), before reaching an impassioned crescendo with the line, "You're the reason I sing..."
It's affecting stuff. And there's more to come. Edge buries his navy blue skull-capped head into a bulging slip-case of CD-Rs and locates his favourite mix of "Original of the Species," a slinky pop song built around a primitive riff, with shades of Bowie's "Aladdin Sane." Bono is on his feet in an instant and monkey-stepping to the loping groove, singing away and proudly declaring, "This one's about Edge's daughter."
Then, when the guitarist cues up another new track called "All Because of You," things get physical. It's the rawest song U2 have ever recorded: the quartet recast as an abrasive garage band.
"It's The Who!" Bono howls, windmilling Pete Townshend-like and landing light(ish) blows on Q's arm to emphasise musical accents. It's clear that, re-energised by the creative and commercial rebirth of 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, progress on the band's latest studio album (expected arrival: summer 2003) is cracking along apace.
except the part about the fuckin release date.
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